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While the United States and Iran edge closer to a nuclear deal, nearly two dozen U.S. states are imposing their own sanctions against Tehran – a move some say could derail fragile talks between the two countries. The states, though, say they aren’t budging. In fact, Kansas and Mississippi are even considering adding more sanctions. Several states across the country have put their own measures in place to punish Iran-linked companies operating in certain sectors of its economy, directing public pension funds with billions of dollars in assets to divesting from the firms and sometimes barring them from public contracts,...

A judge sentenced convicted murderer Jodi Arias to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday, for the murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. The decision by Judge Sherry Stephens was largely a formality after a jury deadlocked last month on whether to give Arias the death penalty or life in prison. The mistrial removed the death penalty as an option. The only decision left was whether the judge would allow the 34-year-old Arias to be eligible for release after 25 years. She declined to do that, meaning Arias will spend the rest of her life in prison.

In a shocking accusation, French diplomats told Foreign Policy that they believe the Obama administration plans to replace Saudi Arabia with Iran as the central U.S. ally in the Middle East. (VIDEO: Reporter Grills State Department: Is United States Now A ‘Functional Ally Of Iran?’) “Numerous French diplomats suspect that the United States… is on the verge of profoundly reshaping of [sic] its traditional alliance system in the Middle East,” reporters Joseph Bahout and Benjamin Haddad write, ”moving [to] a system where Iran replaces Saudi Arabia as the central pillar of regional stability.” “The nuclear talks, French diplomats suspect, are...

The commander of the Basij militia of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that “erasing Israel off the map” is “nonnegotiable,” according to an Israel Radio report Tuesday. Militia chief Mohammad Reza Naqdi also threatened Saudi Arabia, saying that the offensive it is leading in Yemen “will have a fate like the fate of Saddam Hussein.” Naqdi’s comments were made public as Iran and six world powers prepared Tuesday to issue a general statement agreeing to continue nuclear negotiations in a new phase aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord by the end of June.

Islamic extremist fighters – possibly from the Al Shabab terror group-- stormed a popular hotel in the Somali Capital Mogadishu Friday, trapping government officials inside the building, police said. Witnesses reported hearing a large explosion and gunfire at the Maka Al Mukaram Hotel, Reuters reported. Police say gunshots were heard inside the compound but it’s unclear whether there are casualties resulting from the attack. "Al Shabaab fighters are on the top of the building and inside the hotel," Police Major Ismail Olow told Reuters. "Some government officials are inside the hotel."

Crashing drones are spilling secrets about U.S. military operations. A surveillance mission was exposed last week when a Predator drone crashed in northwest Syria while spying on the home turf of President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. officials believe the drone was shot down, but they haven’t ruled out mechanical failure. Regardless, the wreckage offered the first hard evidence of a U.S. confrontation with Assad’s forces. The mishap in Syria follows a string of crashes in Yemen, another country where the U.S. military keeps virtually all details of its drone operations classified. Yemeni tribesmen have reported three cases in the past 15...

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear an expedited appeal on a district court’s ruling that blocks President Obama’s executive amnesty. The appeals court is to hear arguments on April 17. SNIP The Justice Department appealed the decision to the higher court this month, seeking to allow the executive amnesty go forward. The state of Texas is leading the 26 states in its court fight against the executive orders. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stressed, following the Fifth Circuit’s date announcement, that it would continue to “vigorously oppose the president’s illegal amnesty plan in court.”

The US must release photographs showing abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, a federal judge has ruled in a long-running clash over letting the world see potentially disturbing images of how the military treated prisoners. US district judge Alvin Hellerstein’s ruling Friday gives the government, which has fought the case for over a decade, two months to decide whether to appeal before the photos could be released. The American Civil Liberties Union has been seeking to make them public in the name of holding government accountable.

For years, the U.S. military has worked closely with Yemen’s government to go after AQAP, together carrying out numerous attacks like the 2011 drone strike that killed prominent al Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki. And U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed this cooperation as a pillar in his anti-terrorism campaign. “Yemen has never been a perfect democracy or a island of stability,” Obama said in January, promoting the policy of “partnering and intelligence-sharing with that local government” as the best approach in a bad situation. “The alternative would be for us to play whack-a-mole every time there is a terrorist actor...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of an unexpected break in Iranian nuclear talks, President Barack Obama is calling on the return of Americans held in Iran. In a message commemorating the Persian New Year, Obama says it's a time for families to be reunited. He says Iran should immediately release U.S. prisoners Saeed Abedini of

Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken tried to reassure skeptical lawmakers on Thursday that any nuclear deal the Obama administration signs with Iran would prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Blinken, accompanied by Adam Szubin, acting Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, came to Capitol Hill as his boss, Secretary of State John Kerry, was in a fourth day of talks with Iranian officials aimed at closing the remaining gaps in the two countries' positions. "The negotiations have been substantive and intense," Blinken told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "We've made some progress on the...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory after the first exit polls released following Tuesday's elections showed the Likud ahead of, or tied with, the Zionist Union. Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page: "Against all odds, a great victory for the Likud, for the nationalist camp led by the Likud, and for the people of Israel." The numbers for Netanyahu's Likud were better than expected after pre-election polls had showed him trailing Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union by as much as five mandates. The Zionist Union rejected conjecture that the results of the exit polls show that Netanyahu will form the next...

Real estate heir Robert Durst was arrested Saturday in New Orleans on murder charges, his attorney said Sunday. Durst was taken into custody around 11 p.m. local time. He is being held on a first degree warrant out of Los Angeles County by the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office. Durst’s attorney, Chip Lewis, told KTRK that Durst will not fight extradition to Los Angeles. He hopes to get Durst in front of a magistrate judge in New Orleans tomorrow to start the extradition charges and plans to fight the charges in Los Angeles. Durst, 71, is the subject of an HBO...

A bipartisan majority of House lawmakers have written a letter to President Obama backing up the letter 47 GOP senators controversially addressed to Iran on Monday with dire warnings about the impending nuke deal. Some 250 members had signed the House letter by Friday afternoon, a clear majority of the chamber. Its authors, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., and the panel's top Democrat, Eliot Engel of New York, are still gathering more signatures but will send the letter to Obama soon. "Should an agreement with Iran be reached, permanent sanctions relief from congressionally mandated sanctions would require...

The five Democrats on the House Committee on Benghazi are asking the State Department to prioritize releasing 850 pages of Hillary Clinton’s official emails from the cache of files the former secretary of state has turned over. The State Department has 55,000 pages of documents to review but the Democrats on the Benghazi panel, led by Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, want the agency to first release the emails Clinton sent to the select committee last year. “Since the Department has already produced approximately 850 pages of these documents to the Select Committee on Benghazi, we request that the Department begin...

Havana (AFP) - Cuba rallied behind Venezuela on Tuesday, offering its closest ally "unconditional support" after US President Barack Obama authorized new sanctions against officials of the turbulent South American oil producer. The Cuban reaction marked its first public confrontation with the United States since the two countries began discussions in December on fully restoring diplomatic relations. Cuba joins other leftist regional governments in closing ranks with Caracas in the deepening US-Venezuela row. An official statement published in the island's state-run media called Obama's executive order implementing the sanctions "arbitrary and aggressive." "Cuba again reiterates its unconditional support and that...

Full title............DNI: 'Confirmed' That 116 Former Gitmo Detainees Returned to Terror or Insurgencies; If More Are Released More Will (CNSNews.com) - The Director of National Intelligence released a report this week indicating that the United States has "confirmed" that 116 detainees "transferred" out of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, subsequently reengaged in terrorist or insurgent activities. The report also warned: "Based on trends identified during the past eleven years, we assess that some detainees currently at GTMO will seek to reengage in terrorist or insurgent activities after they are transferred." The DNI first publicly warned more than four years...

Full title.....Gold Mine: Hillary Clinton’s Brother Granted Super-Rare Mining Permit from Haiti After State Dept. Sent Country Billions Hillary Rodham Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham, sat on the board of a self-described mining company that in 2012 received one of only two “gold exploitation permits” from the Haitian government—the first issued in over 50 years. The tiny North Carolina company, VCS Mining, also included on its board Bill Clinton’s co-chair of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. The Rodham gold mine revelation is just one of dozens featured in a forthcoming bombshell investigative book by...

The Justice Department says it won't prosecute former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old that led to weeks of protests. Federal officials concluded there was no evidence to disprove Wilson's testimony that he feared for his safety, nor was there reliable evidence that Michael Brown had his hands up when he was shot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to offer an alternative in his speech to the U.S. Congress on the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, a senior U.S. administration official said on Tuesday. "Simply demanding that Iran completely capitulate is not a plan, nor would any country support us in that position. The prime minister offered no concrete action plan," the official said, speaking on background. Netanyahu warned Congress against accepting a deal with Iran that President Barack Obama and his administration are deeply invested in negotiating, arguing that the deal would leave Iran with a "breakout time" of a year,...